Last year at Anglesey symposium I was standing in the car park waiting for Michal when I heard some people speaking Czech. Not living in the Czech Republic, we don’t hear that language very often. And if we do, we very seldom acknowledge that we do indeed understand. However, this time, hearing it in the middle of kayaks, made a difference and I started to chat to these people. They were very nice, and they lived in Belgium.
We have not seen them or really spoke to them many times through the year, but we each tried to persuade the others to come and visit. Having weekend to spare during this half term I send a message “we could come” and received a reply “do”. And so last Friday saw us on the coach (money won over time) to Ghent.
Since we were coming, we were asked to give a talk on our circumnavigation for their kayaking club. We can’t resist that one, and had a great evening in Gekko.
Four kayakers would naturally choose their bums as mode of transport and we visited Ghent via its many waterways. Jarda proved to be a very knowledgeable and entertaining guide, and what he didn’t know he made up, I’m sure.
However we saw Ghent’s version of Billingsgate market and Tower.
We had opportunity of paddling a historical boat to the historical town centre.
On the way to Rabot Gate we visited tortoises but they were still hibernating.
Of course there isn’t a trip without a coffee.
And since it was Belgium, the waffles were a must. Waffle, or wafre, wafer, wâfel, waufre, gaufre, goffre, gauffre, wafe, waffel, wåfe, wāfel, wafe, vaffel, and våffla is really a batter grilled between two plates. Still there are many varieties around the world, twelve in Belgium alone. Many things could be said about waffles, we had them with strawberries and cream.
Thank you to Anička and Jarda for your hospitality.